And The Winning Candidate Distro Is ...

MX Linux.

After messing around with Devuan as a live USB, I did the same with MX Linux, and I just like it better. 

The install to hard drive is as easy as it should be (as easy as Ubuntu or Mint, much easier than Windows), it has a nice intuitive app installer, and so far everything I've mess with has worked easily (for example, setting up Dropbox).

All of this was by way of moving to a non-systemd Linux distribution (MX gives you the choice between systemd and sysvinit), but I was also looking for something "Linux Newbie Friendly," and MX qualifies:

1. Download the iso you want (I chose the one with the XFCE desktop/GUI, but you can also go with KDE or Fluxbox);
2. Burn the iso to a thumb drive;
3. Boot your computer from the thumb drive;
4. Mess around with MX a little and see if you like it;
5. Click the "Install" icon on the desktop and follow the easy instructions;
6. Enjoy!

I considered installing MX next to Mint and Windows, but then I had a better idea: I had it nuke the whole hard drive and just completely take over.

Why? Since I've had this computer, I've used Windows two or three times ... to play Starcraft. If I really want to play Starcraft, I'll do the Wine or virtual machine thing. I'm tired of wasting hard drive space on Windows and after logging into it this morning to grab the product key just in case, I hope it's the last time I ever do that.

Wordle 1749 Hint

Hint: Today's Wordle burns, but just a little.

Not Enough? Get the first letter of today's Wordle after the ad below.

New to Wordle? You can play it at the New York Times, and here are some thoughts on how I go about solving each day's puzzle.

First Letter: S

Immediate Ergonomic Improvement!

Preemptive for the economically delusional: According to Amazon's AI, "[t]he product information for the HUANUO Dual Monitor Mount [not an affiliate link] doesn't specify the country of manufacture," but I can reasonably surmise that the item is "cheap Chinese junk."

In this case, I went for the cheapest option not beause I'm unwilling to pay more for exactly what I want, but because I wasn't sure if monitor arms of any kind were exactly what I wanted.

I thought putting my monitors on adjustable arms instead of stationary risers might improve the ergonomics of my desktop setup, but I wasn't sure, so why spend three times as much on the fancy-schmancy gas spring, etc. stuff as a first step?

If the cheap ones worked exactly as I hoped, I'd have spent less money and got what I wanted.

If they worked, but not as well as I liked, I could hand them down to someone else in the household after buying better ones.

If I decided I just preferred risers to arms, I could still hand them down and not buy the better ones.

Evaluation after one day of use:

They work pretty much exactly as I'd hoped. The more expensive ones might be a little easier to adjust, but these do a fine job. Instead of either:

1. Accomodating my body position to the height and distance of the monitors; or
2. Spending a lot of time moving risers back and forth, stacking or unstacking stuff underneath the monitors for height, etc., I
3. Sit comfortably for myself at the moment and just reach out and put each monitor where I want it in a couple of seconds.

I also have a lot of options that I wouldn't have at all with monitors that sit on bases and risers. If, for some reason, I want to tilt a monitor 90 degrees on its side, I can do that. If I want to add a third or even fourth monitor (perhaps to run two computers simultaneously?), I can buy separate single arms and mount the additional monitors to the sides of the desk. And so on, and so fourth.

It was a good use of $25. I probably won't bother "upgrading," at least for now.